Penny Saga 4: Penny Bonds & Makes New Friends
by The EmiLily
Summary: Penny takes a trip to Britain, and discovers some unexpected friends.


PENNY BONDS & MAKES NEW FRIENDS (OR, PENNY DOES BRITAIN)

On a cold but bright sunny day in Metro City, Penny and her two sisters, Cassie and Cammie, sat in the sunroom of the Gadget household. The three were now in ninth grade at Metro City's Metro East High School, and had been going there for three months. It was December 12th, and everywhere in Metro City there were signs of Christmas. The triplets had agreed to put up the decorations for their first Christmas together the following Sunday.

"I think right over there on that far wall should be the Christmas tree. It would look great in the sunroom!" Cassie said.

"Sure, but we have to have the smaller tree in the family room where the fireplace is. That's tradition!" Penny said.

"Uh-huh...the big showy one for visitors and the smaller personal one for us," Cassie said.

"I'll get the phone," said Cammie out of the blue.

"What? It hasn't rung," said Penny.

Cammie got up anyway and a second later the jarring jangle of the phone's ring startled everyone. Cammie picked it up and said Hello. Moments later she put it down and told everyone it was a wrong number.

"How did you know the phone would ring?" Cassie asked.

"I just had an image and sound sort of come to me, I guess, and I acted on it. I've been having them a lot," Cammie said.

As Cammie finished, their uncle, the famous Inspector Gadget, came into the room and asked the question: "Who wants to go to England?"

"W-w-what?" stuttered Cammie.

"England?" asked Cassie.

"Yes," Inspector Gadget said. "Dr. Claw is suspected of building a huge super laser there and the Chief asked me to come. The Chief booked two extra seats on the plane and an extra bed in my hotel room because Penny and Brain normally come."

"Well, I've been to England, so it's only fair that you two go," Penny said while gesturing to Cassie and Cammie.

"Oh, no, I couldn't go," said Cammie. "I have a terrible fear of flying."

"Really?" Cassie said.

"I don't like heights much either," Cammie said.

"Well then it's settled. Penny and Cassie will accompany me to England. You'll have to keep out of the way, but you can do some sightseeing while I solve the case," Inspector Gadget said.

"It's gonna be weird having Cassie accompany on the trip instead of Brain. But Brain is having a great time at the Dog Hotel. He loves being waited on hand and foot!" Penny said and they all laughed.

Mr. Ralston, the three's father, came in at that moment. "Who's staying home with me?" he asked.

Cammie raised her hand.

"So I guess it's you and me, huh? Well, we'll have lots of fun. We can go out to eat, go to the movies, anywhere you want!" Mr. Ralston said.

"Well, I can't wait until we get to England," Cassie said. "I've never been there before."

"Oh, it's beautiful," Penny said. "You'll love it. Everything is so different there!"

"I'm hungry," a small, elfin figure in red said while sitting on a rock. "Too bad we don't have that muscle man around anymore."

"Muscle don't man anymore around have," said a similar figure dressed in blue sitting next to the one in red.

"Why do you talk like that? It gets on my nerves!" the red troll said.

"Talk why you do like?" the blue one said with a frustrated look on his dirty face.

"That's IT. We have to get that girl's watch so we can use the electrical properties of it to make ourselves normal!" the red one said.

"Watch girl normal properties electrical!" the troll in blue said.

"We'll grab her from her house," said the red one.

"House grab we'll her from her," said the blue one as the red one shrugged his shoulders.

Cassie woke up early on the day she and Penny were to fly to England. She looked out the window with dismay: it was snowing! And windy! 

"There's no way we'll get out of Metro City!" Cassie said out loud to no one in particular.

"Yes we will. We have our own private jet," said Inspector Gadget, who had come down to wake her.

"So we're going anyway?" Cassie said.

"Yup," said Penny who was right behind the Inspector. "So let's get ready and get on our way!"

Later that morning, Cammie, Cassie, Penny and Inspector Gadget piled into the Gadget van and, with Mr. Ralston at the wheel, took off for Metro City airport. They arrived within fifteen minutes, and Cassie and Penny hurried out, carrying only carry-on luggage, as was Inspector Gadget. Mr. Ralston and Cammie wished them a good trip, and then watched as the three made their way through the terminal doors. They had just turned the car around to head out of the parking lot when they saw the Metro City Police Force private jet take off on its way to England. Cassie shuddered as the plane ascended. She didn't know if it was because she was thinking of herself in that jet, or if it was something else entirely.

Deep in a dank, dark dungeon somewhere in England, an evil man with metal gloves on both hands was watching the take off of the jet containing Penny, Cassie and Inspector Gadget. He went by the name of Dr. Claw, and was known around the world for his ruthlessness.

"Gadget, Gadget, Gadget..." he said quietly in his growling hoarse voice. "You will not interfere this time," he said a little louder. The only light came from a grate above him, making is gloves shine slightly.

Claw paused a moment to think. Then, in a deep, menacing voice said, "Yes, Gadget and the girl will be no problem. No problem at all..." He let the last word trail off and then started to laugh, softly at first, but then gradually rising to an echoing, evil cascade of sounds. A flock of ravens that had made their roost on the grate took flight, creating a furious beating of wings. His laugh only grew louder.

"Cammie, I can't see through this snow!" Mr. Ralston complained. "We might have to stop somewhere until it stops."

"No, Mr. Ralston!" said Cammie. She wanted to get home and take a long, relaxing bath. The feeling she was getting was scaring her. She wanted it out. "We have to get home."

"We're almost home, so I guess it will be all right," said Mr. Ralston as they came to an intersection. Mr. Ralston looked both ways and saw no one coming. He accelerated ahead. In front of him suddenly was a large gray sedan, which was traveling on the same side of the road as he was. Mr. Ralston slammed on the brakes. Cammie saw the car and screamed as Mr. Ralston felt the wheels slipping uselessly on the freshly fallen snow. Cammie's scream grew louder, and the cars slammed together with a sickening screech of twisted metal.

The plane touched down at Heathrow Airport in London and gradually taxied to a stop at Gate 10. Cassie, Penny and Inspector Gadget disembarked and traversed the terminal directly to the parking lot, as neither had more than carry-on luggage. Waiting in the last space in lot F was a nondescript gray sedan, as the chief said there would be. The three threw their luggage in the spacious trunk and got into the spacious and luxurious but moderately run-down car. It was cold but sunny day and Inspector Gadget switched on the heater as the made the relatively short drive to their hotel in the British countryside, about thirty minutes away.

They turned off the main road and traveled along a small stretch of country road, and then made the turn into a gravel driveway, where, at the end, the hotel loomed before them. It was still light out but getting darker by the minute. Inspector Gadget parked the car and the three got out and removed their luggage from the trunk. They went inside and were shown their room on the ground floor. 

After getting unpacked, the three were ready for bed. After a long flight all they wanted to think about was rest. They changed into robes and retired to their chambers, Gadget in one and Cassie and Penny in another. The night was peaceful. The day beckoned.

The next morning Gadget announced to Cassie and Penny he was heading out to do some detective work. He left as Penny and Cassie were finishing up their breakfast toast. Penny had brought many new outfits, and was currently wearing one: a sea-green skirt with a yellow top, white kneesocks and low sneakers and her hair was drawn back into a ponytail. Cassie, on the other hand, wore simple outfit of a white t-shirt, jeans shorts, white socks and sneakers. Her hair was in two ponytails.

"Are you ready?" Penny asked between bites.

"Ready for what?" Cassie responded.

"Ready to follow your uncle...uhh, our uncle," Penny said.

"But he said to stay out of the way," Cassie countered.

"Uncle is the type who thinks he does everything for himself, and works alone to do it. Unfortunately, he can't. Without Brain and I Uncle would be...dead now. He needs our help. Here, take this," Penny said as she handed Cassie a small two-way radio. "I use my watch to contact Brain's collar when he's with me, but since you're here you'll need to use the radio. Just press the button on the side to talk to me. Now go quick...or you'll lose his trail. I'll leave shortly," Penny said.

"I-I guess so," Cassie said and stood up. "I guess I'll go now," she said and opened the door...and left.

The impact of the crash flattened the fronts of both cars. Mr. Ralston had a door jammed in front of his escape route. His leg was being held by the support. He wrenched it free and used his stronger leg to kick the door off the car. He wormed his way out of the car and ran to the other side. Cammie was bleeding from her head and was unconscious. She wasn't trapped in the wreckage, but Ralston didn't know how serious her injuries could be.

"Hey, mister! Sorry about the collision...it's the snow! Are you all-" the man, who was the driver of the other car, stopped abruptly when he saw Cammie. "Oh no! Is she hurt?"

"Yeah, but I don't know how bad. Go call an ambulance," Ralston directed as he removed the door, which was hanging by a thread. He supported Cammie's neck and legs and delicately extracted her from the crushed car. He laid her on the snow and, as the snowflakes dropped upon her, she woke up. 

"Don't say anything," Ralston said.

"But-dad-what happened?" Cammie said softly.

"There was a crash, but I'm okay, and you're gonna be okay. I can hear the ambulance," Ralston said to his daughter as a white van pulled up with "Metro City Medical Response" emblazoned on the side. The men rushed to Cammie, put her body on a stretcher and loaded it into the ambulance. After Ralston hopped in, the ambulance raced to the East Branch of Metro City Hospital. 

Later in the day, a now healed and stitched up Cammie and a slightly bruised Mr. Ralston were released from the hospital. They boarded a bus and headed home.

When Cassie emerged from the room, she quickly flattened herself against the wall, as Gadget had just finished interrogating a hotel customer leaving his room. Gadget moved on, and Cassie crept along stealthily behind. Gadget went down the hotel hallway, all the way to the lobby. He crossed the lobby, questioning a few people as he went. He went into another hallway, and Cassie followed, noting that the hallway led to the cafeteria, and that was exactly where they ended up.

Gadget went from table to table as Cassie looked on, apparently bothering people by asking questions. He seemed to take a little longer questioning the server at the far end of the buffet line. Then, Gadget seem to be hit with a revelation, and he purposely strode away from the server-and straight for her!

"Whew! It's good to be in England again! Wow, it's been so long," Penny reminisced. "The last time I was here was, well, back a few centuries," she said and giggled. "So much has changed since then!"

Penny sat in the recliner in front of the TV table. She stared at her kneesock-clad legs and the skirt that lay at the top. She looked at her shirt; it was not the red and white shirt she always wore. It was something different. Something was different about this case, too. Uncle was a little more serious. She had a new partner, her twin. She herself was different.

Suddenly it struck her to give Cammie a call. She picked up the phone and told the hotel switchboard the number she wished to dial. In a few moments the call was connected and the phone rang at the Gadget household. And it rang. And it rang again. After ten rings, Penny hung up.

"Must be out having a good time," she thought.

She got her bag from her bedroom, checked it for supplies, and hooked it around her shoulder. She took one last piece of toast and munched on it absent-mindedly, deciding where to start her search.

"Okay, from recent M.A.D. surveillance of the Gadget household, there is a secret passageway into to the basement of the house. We'll enter there and then find the girl," the Red Troll said to his blue brother.

"Enter we'll find girl the there and," the blue one repeated.

"When should we go?" the Red one asked.

"Should when go we?" the blue one replied, while at the same time motioning moon symbols, and one of them. That was their code for "tonight". The red one nodded his head in agreement.

As Gadget headed toward her, Cassie ran as fast as she could back to the room. She stuck her key in the lock and rushed into the room, running right into Penny. The two fell on top of each other.

"Watch where you're going!" Penny said. "Speaking of that, why are you here?"

"Uncle is coming," Cassie said between gasps of air. "And would you mind helping me get off you?"

"Yeah, okay," Penny said with a laugh and rolled out from underneath Cassie, who in turn pushed herself up to a standing position as Gadget came through the open door.

"I see I've interrupted something," Gadget said with a weird flash in his eye. "Well, you girls can go wherever you want, but stay out of my way. I forgot my new Gadget, a Gadget Seismograph. It'll tell me where vibrations are coming from and I can pinpoint the site of the new M.A.D. laser."

The bus stopped in front of the Gadget household and Cammie and Mr. Ralston disembarked. 

"I'll make a huge supper, with spaghetti, meatballs, garlic bread, Italian green beans, the works," Ralston told Cammie.

"I love your cooking, dad. I can't wait," said Cammie.

"Cammie, how come you're calling me 'dad' all of a sudden?" Mr. Ralston asked.

"Well, you know I had the hardest time out of the three of us calling you dad cause I already had a dad that died, y'know? But, when I was in the car crash, I didn't know how close to death I was. Even though I know now it was a minor injury, it made me unconscious! I didn't want to leave the earth without knowing that right now, you are my dad. You are the one who'll be there at my prom, who I'll call for extra money in college, the one who'll walk me down the aisle at my wedding. No matter how much Mr. Johnson nurtured me, he's not here now. You are," Cammie said, with a small tear in her eye.

The two stopped on the stoop. "That is the best Christmas present you could give me!" Mr. Ralston said. "Now, we're gonna have a nice dinner together. Try not to call your uncle. I wouldn't want him to worry unnecessarily."

"I don't know...if I'm bored and I call them I know it'll slip," Cammie said.

"Well, make sure you tell him the car is not wrecked," Ralston said, and they both started laughing. He unlocked the door and they both stepped inside as the night set on.

"Dinner will be ready in forty-five minutes," Mr. Ralston said and vanished into the kitchen. 

Cammie went down to her basement room and sat down. She immediately thought of what the trio would be doing right now if they were all together. They'd be eating dinner, helping each other with homework, watching TV, or maybe reading. Cammie remembered that Penny had always worn the same thing until up till a few months ago. She had also worn her hair in ponytails. Cammie ran up to Penny's room and rifled through Penny's closet to find the green pants and red and white shirt. She rushed back downstairs knowing she could fit into them as all three were the same size. She changed out of her now dirty casual green dress and put on Penny's clothes. She also quickly redid her hair in two ponytails.

She looked in the mirror. She looked exactly like Penny. No one would know the difference. She definitely felt closer to her twins, but she still felt lonely, and figured she would until dinner was ready. Then, the idea hit her to call them up in London. They must be just waking up. She picked up the phone and dialed.

"I'll see you girls later tonight, but if I'm not in, you two go to bed early! No partying!" Gadget said and laughed. He turned to leave as the phone rang. Cassie ran to answer it.

"Hello," she said.

"Hi guys, it's me, Cammie!" Cammie said.

Cassie put the phone on speaker. "You're on the speaker, Cammie. What's going on?" Cassie said.

"Well, we were in a car crash!" Cammie said.

"What?" the three of them said.

"Are you okay?" Cassie asked.

"Is your dad okay?" Inspector Gadget asked.

"What happened?" Penny asked.

"Slow down, slow down! One at a time! First of all, it was only a minor crash cause of the snow, and Dad is fine and I only had a deep cut on my forehead. Second of all, the front end of the car was squashed, but everything else is fine," Cammie said.

"Are you sure?" Inspector Gadget asked.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Cammie said.

"Well, what else are you two doing besides endangering your lives?" Penny asked.

"Dad is making supper now and we're gonna eat, and then tomorrow we'll probably go to the mall or the movies together," Cammie said.

"That sounds cool. Over here it's nice and sunny, and it's warmer than Metro City. They're having a "heat wave" over here...highs in the lower sixties! Great time to be here," Cassie said.

"I envy you...the snow's coming to a stop now. We got about six inches," Cammie said. "It's only twenty-nine degrees here!"

"You bundling up?" Cassie asked.

"Actually, I'm wearing what Penny used to, you know, the green pants and stuff, to remind me of you guys," Cammie said.

"Really? You miss us that much?" Penny asked. A small tear formed the corner of her eye.

"Well, yeah! It's the first time we've been separated since we met each other!" Cammie said.

"All right girls, enough with the talking...Cammie, let me talk to my brother. I need to know about the car and stuff," Inspector Gadget said.

"Okay...bye guys!" Cammie said.

The trio reciprocated the gesture and a few moments later Gadget was talking to Mr. Ralston.

While their conversation was taking place, Cassie motioned Penny into their room.

"Penny, I know you're counting on me to be like Brain and all, but I don't know how to spy! When I was out there this morning I was petrified!" Cassie said.

"Relax, Cass! You'll get the hang of it! All it takes is practice," Penny said.

"I don't think I have time to practice," Cassie replied.

"Well, it's sort of like you just have to do it to know how to do it. I know it sounds a little complicated, but that's how I had to learn. It will come to you in time," Penny said.

"But what if we don't have time?" Cassie said.

Before Penny had a chance to dwell on what she thought was a particularly strange remark, Gadget poked his head into the room and told Cassie and Penny that he was leaving. The two girls followed him into the main room and waved goodbye to him as he left. Cassie looked at Penny, who gave her a non-verbal signal that said simply, "Follow him." Cassie quietly slipped open the door and proceeded to follow Gadget down the hallway.

Five minutes later, Penny grabbed her bag, which she had lain on the couch in the main room when Cassie had bowled her over, and quietly opened the door partway. She peeked out and saw that neither Gadget nor Cassie was there. She then opened the door fully and emerged into the corridor. She followed it to the lobby and then out the door she went into glorious morning sunshine. She fished around in her bag and withdrew her computer book. She opened it up and asked it to scan for any unusual electronic signals nearby. Surprisingly, on both sides of the hotel there were high concentrations of electric signals. One was a building, and a rather large one at that, that she could barely see through a thick growth of trees. The other deposit of signals Penny could not see, but according to a map in her computer book was a large field bordered by woods. The field was at least two miles away, but the building was relatively closer; only a half mile or so. She could also tell that Cassie and Gadget were on their way to the field by a small transmitter in Cassie's radio.

Penny turned toward the building. She ran quickly through the hotel's parking lot, which was rather small, and came upon an expansive field. She now had a clear line of sight on the building, so she put the book back in her bag and ran as fast as she could across the field, covering the distance of about a quarter mile in under a minute. She stopped at the start of the woods and took her bearings. She saw the building and carefully traipsed through the woods to reach it. She hopped over fallen logs, dodged around trees and made her way through dense growths of shrubbery. When going through one such patch, she felt a sudden pain on the skin near her knee, right near the top of her right kneesock. She saw some sort of plant with thorns had scratched her skin, which was rather pale at the moment. Penny expected to have to stop and squelch the bleeding, but surprisingly the cut was not that deep. Penny continued on through the dark forest and emerged a very short while later in the shadow of a rather large nondescript building. It was a typical large brownstone with windows only on the ground and top floors and what seemed to be a large collection of skylights on the roof. Penny started to circle the building and soon came to a pair of double doors. They appeared to be emergency exits, as they had no handles on the outside. Penny knew she couldn't just waltz in as the alarm would probably go off, so she hit a few buttons on her watch and discovered that the alarm could easily be shorted out. A few more buttons pushed and the alarm was inoperable. Penny then used her laser in her watch to burn the hinges off the doors and gained entry. She stood in a wide hallway with muted blue carpeting. She followed it to its end and turned right into a similar corridor. This one had what appeared to be office doors on each side. Heating vents were at each end. Since she wasn't sure where she was going, she withdrew her computer book and let it find the greatest concentration of signals in the building. Her book told her that on the floor above her was a great mainframe computer, plus many terminals.

She ran to the end of the hallway, and discovered a door that led to the fire stairs. She opened it up and stealthily climbed up the flight of steps. She peered through the door and saw what appeared to be a large computer terminal with many agents in white coats working on it. Also there appeared to be a radar screen and sonar. The door was locked with a computerized device. Penny realized she could not hope to penetrate M.A.D. that way. Then, she remembered the heating vents and rushed back down the stairs and peeked through the glass on the door. No one was there. She quietly pushed the door open and, with the help of her watch laser, undid the grate on the heating vent. She estimated the size would be close, but just big enough. She climbed in and followed the metal maze up ramps and down inclines, sneaking softly over grates in the ceiling. Finally, she looked down one such grate and saw the control room she had witnessed from the stairs. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small set of binoculars. She looked through them at the operation. Agents were scurrying around, following orders. Penny's vision was constantly compromised by these faithful followers of the malicious Dr. Claw. Finally, she got a clear line of sight to the main computer and radar screen. She scanned the radar screen, which at the moment was tracking various satellites and airplanes. Then, her vision turned to the computer screen. As clear as day was a list of targets. She read through them: "Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, Jakarta, Mexico City, Sydney, Nairobi, London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Rome, Metro City." As Penny read the last one, she gasped in shock and dropped her binoculars with a clatter. More than a few agents turned their heads upwards, and some stared right at her.

Cammie was listening to her Uncle talk to her father, and they hung up after about five minutes. Cammie left her room and ventured out to the bottom of the stairs.

"Dad! How much longer until dinner will be ready?" she called up.

"About a half an hour, Cammie!" Mr. Ralston shouted back down.

Cammie decided she could spend some time reading before supper and headed back to her room. She closed the door behind her and locked it out of habit. When she was younger, she and her adoptive father had lived in some of the more run-down areas of the cities where they had resided. When she turned away from the door, the secret passage in her wall suddenly opened and two ugly troll-like creatures came into her room. Cammie stifled a scream as the one dressed in blue rushed over and securely tied her with rope and gagged her with a white handkerchief. With the blue one at her feet and the red one at her head, Cammie was carried through the secret passage and out into the cold, now moonlit night.

The evil Dr. Claw was not happy. He was watching Penny, his nemesis, approaching the technological brains of his operation at the building he called the "Edifice of Executions", and saw his other nemesis, Inspector Gadget, snooping around the digging site for his new super missile. Dr. Claw thought deeply about what to do, but could not think of anything except to capture Penny. He knew Inspector Gadget was notoriously hard to keep in captivity. Then, as Claw viewed the surrounding area, he saw Cassie a mile away, sitting under a tree, resting. Claw then input a code on his console and a single red button popped up on his desk. He pressed it, and then started laughing maniacally.

Cassie had stopped for a short, five-minute break along the side of the road, but now decided she had to hurry and catch up with her Uncle, whom Penny had entrusted her to protect. Cassie got up, took a few deep breaths, and continued running. She didn't run quite as fast as Penny, as Penny was much more experienced at chasing, and being chased, from the stories she was told, but Cassie had been on the track team for a few years and wasn't too shabby herself.

She had run for approximately a minute or so when suddenly she felt she had to stop. She had to stop. A feeling traveled from head to toe, a very giddy, lightweight, euphoric feeling. She shuddered violently and then felt close to normal again. She recommenced running, but less than a minute later, she felt hands around her mouth and across her stomach.

"Cammie! Supper!" It was the third time Mr. Ralston had called her daughter and was wondering if Cammie had dozed off. After all, it was a tiring day. Ralston decided to go down to the basement and see. He knocked on Cammie's door and received no answer. He knocked again, and again, no answer. He tried to open the door and found it locked. He got a credit card from his wallet, which was in his pocket, and easily jimmied the lock. He entered the room and gasped in shock: Cammie was nowhere to be seen!

Ralston was about to turn around and search the rest of the house before he saw what looked like muddy paw prints. He knew Brain was gone for a week or so, and besides, there was no mud around since it had just snowed. He also noticed that the prints were directly in front of the secret passageway. He opened the passage and followed it to the outside, where he saw a multitude of the same type of prints in the freshly fallen snow. He, in a split-second, decided he didn't want to lose any time at all and immediately followed the prints.

"I don't know who, or what you are, but you took my daughter, and no one messes with my family," Mr. Ralston said angrily under his breath.

A thin but muscular M.A.D. agent had Cassie in an unbreakable lock, with hands around her stomach and neck. Cassie continued to struggle. When it became clear to her that this was definitely no trick, she spat out, "You fool! I'm on your side!"

The ferocity of which the words were spoken made the agent drop Cassie suddenly onto the ground. Cassie quickly got up and dusted herself off. 

"You can't be on our side! You're Gadget's niece!" the agent said in disbelief.

"No, my name is Cassandra, and I am a highly trained M.A.D. assassin," Cassandra said as she undid the elastics holding her hair in the two child-like ponytails. She rustled her hair with her hands, and it hung around her shoulders. "Now, may I have a gun?" Cassandra asked as her eyes narrowed and hardened. The agent looked completely aghast.

"Let me go! Let me go now!" Cammie screamed into the gag, but it only came out like "Mmmph! Mmmph-mph!"

"It's no use struggling little girl. We have you now," the troll dressed in red said.

"Now have you we!" the blue one parroted back.

Cammie decided to save her strength. A short time later she noticed she could no longer see the sky. In fact, it was pitch black! Shortly after she emerged into a chamber lighted only by a few bare light bulbs. The trolls brought Cammie over to a large table with clamps on each end for her arms and legs. They clamped her down and removed the gag. Cammie, her eyes wild with fear, screamed. The red troll put his "hand" over her mouth and said soothingly, "Listen, now, all we want is your watch. Give us the watch and we'll let you go."

"Watch give us you!" the blue one said enthusiastically.

"What watch? I don't know anything about a watch! Who are you? What are you?" Cammie shouted.

"Listen, we know about the watch. So hand it over, Penny, and there'll be no trouble," the red one said.

"Watch we get trouble no," the blue one said.

Cammie was silent. She remembered when they had first met, Penny had worn a black watch with a red band. She remembered Penny never took it off. Even the few times they had all gone swimming, it always was on her wrist. She had never even thought to ask about it. That must be what they were talking about. They had mistaken her for Penny.

"Listen, I think this is a big mistake! I am Cammie, not Penny. She has your watch. Not me!" Cammie told them calmly.

"You're Cammie? Not Penny?" the red troll said.

"Cammie not you're Penny," the blue one said.

Cammie nodded vigorously. The two trolls looked at each other with puzzled looks.

Mr. Ralston was thinking how ridiculously easy it would be to reclaim Penny if the abductors were always going to be this careless. He traveled a mile or so and came to Metro City's "Hills of Bedrock". They were shale and granite hills that were on Metro City's northwest corner. He saw the tracks led to an area of rough terrain and then into blackness. Ralston saw that there was some sort of tunnel in that blackness so he pressed on. He felt his keys in his pocket and withdrew them, as there was a small flashlight on his key chain. He switched it on and he viewed the tunnel. It looked narrow but well used. It twisted and turned and went up and down. Finally, it ended suddenly-at a straight up stone wall.

"I don't buy it. Surrender the watch now," the red one stated after a brief thinking spell.

"Watch surrender now the," the blue one said happily.

"I'm not Penny! Can't you get it through your thick, furry little skulls! My name is not Penny!" Cammie screamed.

"You are Penny, and you have the watch that will make us normal. You know where it is. You give it to us, we give you your freedom," the red one said.

"Us you it to give, you give your we freedom," the blue troll reiterated.

"Okay, once more. I AM NOT PENNY! MY NAME IS CAMMIE! C-A-M-M-I-E! PENNY IS SPELLED P-E-N-N-Y! TOTALLY DIFFERENT! SEE??" Cammie screamed at the top of her lungs

"Shut up! If you won't do it the easy way, you'll do it the hard way!" the red troll said.

"You do it won't if easy way, it do you'll way hard the," the blue one said giddily as Cammie's eyes moved from red-hot anger to ice-cold fear.

Mr. Ralston stared at the wall. There appeared to be no way through the mass of stone. He suddenly hears words being screamed. He immediately recognized the voice as Cammie's, but could not make out the words spoken. He did, however, notice the sound was coming from his right side. He turned to that side and searched every stone, pebble, and crevice in the rocks at least three times to no avail. There was no entrance over on that side.

Suddenly, the screams from Cammie ceased. Now, Ralston was scared. What was going on in there to his daughter? He instinctively backed away from the right side. His heel caught on a stone embedded on the floor of the passage and he fell backwards into an alcove of black.

The M.A.D. agent gave Cassandra a gun from his belt, which appeared to be some sort of submachine gun. "If you're really a trained assassin, prove it," the agent said.

"Fine," Cassandra said succinctly. She scanned the horizon for anything worth a bullet. She saw a car about 500 feet away. Far down the road. "I'll hit the license plate on that Dodge down the road," she said and proceeded to aim and fire and hit her target in less than thirty seconds.

The agent's jaw dropped open. "You are a trained assassin! You're amazing! I could never do that!" he said.

Cassandra smiled and simply said, "Take me to Claw."

The agents staring at Penny looked for a minute more and then returned their sight to their more pressing tasks. "Whew!" Penny whispered to herself. "I thought for sure I was gonna get caught!"

Penny retrieved her binoculars and began to spy again, taking in the layout of the control room, and seeing where the main power sources and computer storage drives were located. As she was scanning the room, a hissing sound caught her attention. Soon, her vision was clouded by gas that burnt her lungs. She felt extremely drowsy and her eyes closed. Penny fought to keep them open, but they shut again and she fainted, her head coming to rest on the metal heating duct.

Penny came to slowly, and it took her a minute to get used to her surroundings. She lay flat on her back beside her bag in an almost completely metal room. The floor was metal and all four walls were also made of metal. There was no door at all. The only non-metal part of the enclosure was at the very top, where the entire ceiling was a frosted glass.

Suddenly, a hoarse, deep, menacing voice invaded the silence. "So, did you have a nice rest?" it asked mockingly.

"I know it's you, Claw," Penny said vindictively. "Let me go!"

"I don't think so, little girl. You've been meddling again!" Claw replied.

"Well, if you won't let me out I'll find a way out myself!" Penny vows.

"We'll see about that...bye-bye!" Claw said.

Penny looked hopefully around the room for any possibly door but saw none. She turned her head skyward and saw the glass at the top. 

"I guess I'll have to call Brain," Penny said softly to herself and was in the process of bringing her watch up to face level when she remembered that Brain was not here this time. She would have to call Cassie.

The M.A.D. agent lead Cassandra to his jeep, hidden well in the bushes. The agent hopped in the driver's side and motioned for Cassandra to go over to the passenger side. She rushed around the front of the jeep and was about to enter it when a beeping came from Cassandra's pocket.

"What's that?" the M.A.D. agent said, startled.

"I-I don't know," said Cassandra and continued to get in the jeep. Then it beeped again, and she remembered: Penny's radio. She got it out of her pocket and pressed the receive/talk button. "Yes?"

"Cassie! It's Penny! Claw has trapped me! You need to save me!" Penny implored.

"Listen, Penelope, you need to save yourself this time," Cassandra said as a smile came over her face. She threw the radio on the ground and crunched it with her heel. She came the rest of the way into the jeep and the agent started the engine and they were off.

As the transmission on her watch abruptly ended, Penny sunk slowly to the floor in shock. Hot tears formed in her eyes. "What could make her act like that? She's my sister!" Penny said.

She stared at the glass, she stared at the walls, she stared at the floor, she stared at her socks, she stared at her shoes, she stared at her skirt, and she stared at her shirt and even stared at her hair. She stared her reflection in the wall. Looking at her reflection made her think. She had conquered adversity before-why not this time? So what if Cassie was on a power trip, or was scared, or was angry at her? She could save herself!

Penny rifled through her pack and found her grappling hook. She swung the rope and then let it fly. It barely hooked on to the small ledge where the metal and the glass met. She tugged it for strength and began to climb up. She bumped constantly against the metal wall with a dull thud each time. Suddenly, she bumped against the metal and it was with a more hollow sound. She climbed a little higher-still hollow. A little higher-not hollow. She began to ease herself down, but her hands slipped on the rope and she fell straight down landing with a sickening thud on her back on the hard metal floor.

The clamps holding Cammie's legs and arms were tied down even tighter as Cammie waiting in sick anticipation for what was to befall her. The red troll went to Cammie's feet and tore off Cammie's red and orange shoes. Cammie winced with pain as her feet were twisted. Then, the troll took a hold of each of Cammie's pristine white socks and pulled. Cammie's bare feet were now exposed underneath the harsh light. Cammie immediately felt drafts and her feet became frigid.

The red troll took a soft, white feather out of his pocket. He held it in one hand has he took another feather with his other hand and gave it to the blue troll. Both trolls took a foot, with the red troll on the right foot and the blue troll on the left foot, and the tickled, starting at the heel and slowly, ever slowly, moving up. 

Cammie immediately cracked a smile and then began to laugh, slowly at first and quickly reaching hysterical levels. Her ponytails bounced up and down violently as her head moved from side to side.

"Tell us where the watch is!" the red troll demanded.

"Us watch the tell is where!" the blue troll said.

"I-ha hee ha ha hee ha-am not Penny! AHH! Ha ha! Penny has the watch!" Cammie said. "Please stop!"

"Give the watch!" the red troll said.

"Watch the give!" the blue troll said.

"I am not-hahahahaha-the girl you are loo-hoo-hoo-king for!" Cammie said between gasps for air and hysterical laughs.

"Then where is Penny?" the red troll asked.

"Is Penny then where?" the blue troll said.

"Penny I-hi-hi-is in Bri-hi-hi-tain!" Cammie barely got out.

"We'll see," the red troll said as he stopped tickling momentarily.

"See will we," the blue troll said as he walked up to what looked like a giant 1950s-era computer to apparently verify the information he had received.

Suddenly, the trolls and Cammie hear the door of the secret panel slam and turn to find Mr. Ralston.

"Dad!" Cammie screamed.

"Cammie!" Ralston shouted. "Let her go!" he said to the red troll.

"Her go let," the blue troll said as he ran up behind Mr. Ralston with a rock and hit him over the head. Mr. Ralston dropped to the ground, unconscious. 

"No!" Cammie said as the red troll hit a button on the table she was on. A plastic cover surrounded her and a gas is pumped in. Cammie falls asleep in seconds. The red and blue trolls drag Mr. Ralston into another room with a similar table and strap him to it. They then stared at each other.

"What do we do now?" the red one said.

"Do we do what now?" the blue one said.

Penny stirred gradually, and then awakened fully.

"Where am I?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Now I remember. Dr. Claw trapped me in here and I was going to get out when I fell!" Penny said. She was a little surprised that the fall didn't hurt her more than it did. She immediately went to the rope and climbed again to the same spot. She used the laser from her watch to open the panel, and climbed into what looked like a vent, leaving her grappling hook behind.. She crawled to the end where there is a grate that she knocks off and drops down onto another hallway. This one had a tile floor and strong metal doors with small windows near the top. Penny crept along, looking in doors to find her way around. In about the tenth door she looked into, she saw a small blond-haired girl who appeared to Penny to be about ten years old. She was sleeping on what looked like a standard hospital-issue bed. Penny didn't know who she was, but was determined to find out. She might know how to get of there.

Penny took her watch laser and aimed it at the door. She shot the beam of light and the door didn't put up a fight. She stormed into the room and the girl woke up with a start. She looked wildly around and saw Penny. The two locked eyes and stared. 

With Claw barely in the shadows, Cassandra looked at her creator. Cassandra just stared. Finally, Claw made a move. He tossed Cassandra a low-cut black dress and said, "I was waiting."

Cassandra went over to a very dark corner of the room she was in with Claw and quickly put on the dress. She came back and said, "It fits."

Claw chuckled softly and pressed a button on his console. A second later a M.A.D. agent came into the room. "Come here," Dr. Claw ordered him.

"Well, hello there," Cassandra said to the agent in a sultry voice, who appeared very uncomfortable.

"H-h-hi," the agent stuttered.

"You know, I've always admired a man in uniform," Cassandra said while circling the poor agent. "I wonder what it is about them that makes me so-so hot."

"I-I-I don't know, miss," said the agent, now clearly uncomfortable.

"Why don't we find out?" Cassandra asked in almost a whisper. The agent's knees buckled and he found himself kneeling on the floor.

Cassandra put her face next to the agent's neck and, while breathing on his neck says, "Are you in ecstasy now?"

The agent nodded his head slightly and his eyes took on a glazed look.

"You know," she said in a very seductive tone, "I've just made your last few minutes on Earth your happiest." She then rapidly took her hand and snapped the agent's neck. He fell to the floor, his head striking the stone surface. He was dead.

"You're pleased," Cassandra said to Dr. Claw.

"How do you know?" Claw asked.

"I can see you smiling," Cassandra replied with a grin on her own face.

"Yes, I am...now GET GADGET!" Claw said and pounded his fist on his desk.

"We will give her truth gas to make her tell us where the watch is," Red Troll said.

"Gas give watch where is," the blue troll said.

"We have to make sure we get that watch. It's the only way to make us normal," the red one said.

"Way make us only normal," the blue one said.

The two walked to Cammie's table and turned a valve on the top. The colorless gas that was in the chamber was soon replaced with a rust-colored gas. Cammie stirred slightly.

The two then walked into the other room to Mr. Ralston. As they walked in Mr. Ralston was waking up again.

"Who are you! You'll never get away with this!" Ralston said.

"Are you sure?" the red one said.

"Sure are you?" the blue one said.

"What do you want from me?" Ralston asked.

"We don't want you. We want your daughter Penny's watch," the red one said.

"Watch we want," the blue one replied.

"Well, not only is that watch something I gave her before I was kidnapped but she's not even here," Ralston said.

"We'll see about that," the red one said.

"About we'll that see," the blue one said as he hit Mr. Ralston over the head again with a rock, knocking him unconscious again.

Cassandra re-entered the same jeep that she came to Claw's headquarters at the electrical building in, but with a different driver. She was on her way to the missile site. Claw had told her Gadget was still poking around over there, and since he hadn't found out anything at all, Claw instructed his agents to go about their work normally. He told Cassandra to kill him as her premier assignment. Cassandra had readily agreed. 

The drive to the site took only around five minutes and Cassandra disembarked quickly. She looked at the wide grassy expanse that bordered the woods. She was amazed how thick the woods actually were, and in less than five miles or so they had crossed a significant river, gone through woods so thick they blocked the sunlight, and crested a hill. England was a strange country, she thought. She had a small earphone in her ear and Dr. Claw, using his computer, directed her to Gadget's exact location. If she didn't have Claw's help, it would have taken her much longer to locate Gadget, as there were at least one hundred M.A.D. agents crawling on this place and many pieces of equipment blocking lines of sight.

Cassandra appeared rather quickly in front of Gadget. Gadget was surprised and said, "Cassie? Is that you? What are you doing here?"

"The name is Cassandra, thank you," Cassandra said and flipped Gadget onto his back and knocked him unconscious.

"Who-who are you?" the blond-haired girl asked Penny. She was wearing denim shorts/overalls with a soft, white t-shirt, white tights and white sneakers. Her long blond hair was done up in two high ponytails.

"My name is Penny. I was trapped here. Who are you?" Penny asked.

"My name is Caitlin, but people called me Cricket. I think it's because some of the scientists think I'm their own little girl and gave me a nickname," Cricket said. 

"What are you doing in here?" Penny asked her.

"I was kidnapped a long time ago, and my parents were killed. And then-and then...oh, I wish I was real again," Cricket said mysteriously.

The strangeness of that remark didn't hit Penny at that time. She asked her, "Why were you kidnapped?"

"I don't know why I was picked, but now I am totally different...I'm not even real!" Cricket complained.

"Well, I'm leaving, and I want you to come! No one should be kidnapped!" Penny said.

"I don't know...I'd be scared if I wasn't here. They don't hurt me, and I get shelter," Cricket said.

"But there's so much more out in the world that you can see," Penny said.

"I don't know what I'm missing, so it doesn't bother me. But I want to leave her, but I'm scared, and I don't know, and I don't know if I'd even survive! I've never been outside in my condition," Cricket bemoaned.

"Listen, I'll protect you, no matter what happens. I don't have many friends, and I want you to be my friend," Penny said.

"I can be your-your friend?" Cricket said.

"Yes, if you want to be," Penny replied.

"I do! I want to go with you!" Cricket exclaimed.

"Okay, well, we don't have much time, let's go!" Penny said as she took Cricket's hand and pulled her out of her room. They were about to start down the hallway when Penny's watch beeped. Penny stopped and answered it. 

"Penny? It's Cassandra."

Cassandra stood in front of her Uncle, dangling from a branch bound and gagged. A M.A.D. agent and a jeep were next to her. They were directly at the dividing line between the woods and the grassy expanse. Dr. Claw had ordered all of his agents to leave the area so he could snare his greatest foe. She had a M.A.D. handheld radio and Penny's voice came over it: "What do you want"?

"Well," Cassandra said as she spoke into the radio, "I have your uncle here." Cassandra uses the video on the radio to show Penny her uncle. "I thought you would want to be here for his death. See you there!" Cassandra said with a perverse sense of happiness and hung up.

"Cricket, we have to go now! Do you know how to get out of this place?" Penny asked urgently.

"I'm sorry, I don't! Ninety percent of my existence has been in that little room," Cricket replied.

"That's okay. We'll use my computer book," Penny said as she fished it out of her bag. She opens it up and scans the building and discovers they are on the second floor and gives the book to Cricket and lets her tell Penny where to go. Cricket directed her through a brief maze of hallways to the door to the staircase, which was guarded by two M.A.D. agents. The agents immediately drew guns and told Penny and Cricket to stop and put their hands up. Penny, not in the mood to bargain with enemies, shot her laser at their feet. They both shot up into the air and landed on top of each other, not dead, but seriously burned. She then took care of the electronic lock on the door with her laser and Cricket and Penny scurried out. 

They rushed down the stairs to the first floor and then ran down the hallway and out a set of main doors, Penny toasting five M.A.D. agents along the way. Emerging into the bright sunshine, Cricket is temporarily stunned.

"It's just as I remember it!" she said wistfully.

Penny quickly grabbed bag and took out a block of what appeared to be clay. She fastened it to the building and poked two wires and a timer device into it, setting it to explode in five minutes.

"What did you do?" Cricket asked.

"I planted a bomb, now let's GO!" Penny shouted as she grabbed Cricket's hand and they rushed into back across the hotel parking lot and into an area of thick woods.

Dr. Claw was viewing Cricket and Penny leaving the electrical control building. He didn't like it, to say the least.

"Curses! They've escaped!" he shouted. He was about to call his agents when he decided to wait. Cassandra could handle them. After all, she did call them, and they did make it out. Claw was content they would be no problem. Then, he saw the bomb.

"Damn!" he said and picked up his companion M.A.D. cat and rushed to his M.A.D.mobile. He sped away as the building exploded behind him.

"Oh no! We put the crazygas on the girl instead of truth gas!" the red troll said, dismayed.

"Crazy truth gas not girl instead we put!" the blue troll said.

"Unfortunately, though, due to her father's unrehearsed entrance and what he said in the heat of the moment, we have to come to grips with the fact that we don't have Penny-we have Cammie, or whatever her name is," the red troll said.

"Penny not Cammie?" the blue troll said.

"We'll have to hold them for ransom! No killing, no money. Just the watch!" the red troll said definitively.

"Watch only!" the blue troll said.

"I'll go to the Gadget household and demand ransom. They won't hurt me because I'm the only one who knows where the girl and the father are," the red one said, and as the blue one said, "Go you Gadget hold house," the red troll left the cave and followed his tracks back to the Gadget househould.

Penny and Cricket had been walking for less than five minutes when they heard the explosion behind them. "There goes the control!" Penny said triumphantly, but couldn't help but notices a slight tear in Cricket's eye. Before Penny had time to discover what it meant, they approached the river that Cassandra had crossed on the road moments before. Penny knew that they didn't have time to find a bridge, and they would have to ford the river themselves.

"You ready to go?" Penny asked Cricket.

"No...I won't cross!" Cricket said.

"But, we have to! We have to get to my uncle!" Penny pleaded.

"No! I can't!" Cricket said adamantly.

"Are you afraid to cross?" Penny asked.

"You could say that," Cricket said slyly.

"Listen, we need to get to my uncle before my sister kills him. Of course, I don't even think she's my sister anymore. Claw must have done something to her. But, we need to get there! I don't want to lose my uncle too! I'll hold your hand, and I won't let go! I'll be there and I won't let you drown," Penny begged.

"Unfortunately that might not be in your power to stop," Cricket said softly before saying in a normal tone, "Okay, but hold me tight."

"Okay, I'll go first," Penny said.

Penny waded into the water with her bag over her shoulder and holding Cricket's hand. The current was swift, but not overly so. They had a relatively easy time getting to the middle. At the middle, the bottom was too deep for Penny and she needed to tread water and at the same time hold Cricket. She finally made it to where the ground was higher and helped Cricket across the deep part. They both reached the other side successfully and Penny started to dry out.

Penny noticed Cricket didn't look right. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked.

"No, I don't think so. I feel very weak..." Cricket's sentence faded as she collapsed to the ground and began shaking violently.

"What's wrong? Were you bitten by a bug?" Penny asked fervently.

"No-and it's not your fault either-I'm a cyborg. That's what I meant about not being real. I thought you wouldn't be my friend if I told you. And I went across the river too, but I've never been in water before. I've just always been told it was bad," Cricket explained between convulsions.

"Oh my gosh! You broke your own programming code! You're more advanced than Claw thought, I bet. I'll stay here with you until you feel better. You actually risked your life to help me," Penny said.

"Thank you...friend," Cricket said as her convulsions lessened gradually.

While Penny acted confident on the outside, on the inside she was almost the exact opposite. Something had happened to her sister and she didn't know what it was. She had a new friend that might not even "live" for more than ten more minutes. Her uncle was in mortal danger. Had she known this was in store for her before she left, she would have insisted Cammie take her seat on the plane.

Cassandra, meanwhile, was getting bored. Penny was nowhere to be seen. Cassandra thought that the fact she had her uncle would get her here in a hurry. But no, it been longer than it should have taken and she still wasn't there. Cassandra looked at her watch, looked at the sky, looked at the grass, looked with scorn on Gadget. Where was she?!?! Mostly, Cassandra was bored, but she was also a little worried. What if Penny had a trap?

Claw beeped Cassandra on her radio at that moment and Cassandra answered.

"What's up?" she said.

"I'm nearby. Penny blew up the control center!" Claw said.

"That bitch! I'll get her for you!" Cassandra said.

"Well, she escaped with precious cargo-a cyborg. Watch out for the cyborg. She is extremely valuable," Dr. Claw commanded.

"Okay, I'll watch out for it," Cassandra replied.

"If anything happens to it I'll have your head!" Claw said angrily.

"I said I'll watch out for it!" Cassandra responded in an even angrier tone and abruptly ended the conversation.

She had an agent near her and told him to watch out for the girl that didn't look like her, and told him to tell his friends. His "friends" were other agents, one who was near Gadget and one who was farther away from Gadget and Cassandra. Cassandra and all the agents had .45 caliber pistols.

"Where is she??!" Cassandra demanded angrily and shot a warning shot into the air. Everyone except Gadget jumped.

Penny and Cricket were recuperating on the riverbank when they heard the warning shot. After the shot, Cricket said she felt better.

"Well, it's just over that hill," Penny said. "My book tells me that Claw escaped too."

Cricket rose slowly and said, "Okay, I think I feel I can make it."

Penny smiled and took Cricket's hand. They walked slowly at first, and then picked up the pace. They reached the hill rather quickly and then began their ascent. As they climbed, Cricket announced that she felt much better.

"I wish I could say the same," Penny thought grimly.

The red troll entered Gadget's house the same way he did before-through the passage in the basement. He saw no one in the basement so he made his way up to the main floor. He explored a little, and came to the conclusion that there was no one home. He waited. He waited a little more. He waited an hour and no one came. He began to get bored. There was a complete meal laid out on the table for two that looked good. It was only cold. The red troll gorged himself. By the time he was done, he could barely move, but he was determined to find the watch. He decided to go back to the basement and check Cammie's room. He went to the top of the stairs and began to waddle down. Halfway down, he tripped and went sailing down the stairs and hit his head on the tile floor at the bottom, knocking him unconscious.

Penny and Cricket descended the hill rapidly, staying camouflaged by the dense vegetation. At the bottom of the hill they stopped, staring at the scene. Looking at Gadget incapacitated and the jeep and Cassandra and the M.A.D. agents.

Penny decided to take a gamble and walked straight forward, approaching her Uncle. Suddenly, she felt hands grip her from behind. She screamed out softly and kicked weakly, but strangely, her heart was not in it. She was tied up quickly and hung next to Gadget. They looked at each other with despair.

Penny swiftly worked her gag down around her neck. "Why, Cassie? Why?" she asked.

"My name is Cassandra, and, well, you've interfered long enough," Cassandra said contemptuously. 

"But this is NOT the way!" Penny cried.

"Yes it is...it's the only way," said Cassandra with an air of finality.

Penny could see her uncle's eyes-they looked desperate. She knew he was in shock. Then, suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she sees Cricket take out the M.A.D. agent farthest from Penny by snapping his neck, and then, as the one near her leaves to investigate, she takes care of him the same way.

"Now, Penny, it is time to die," Cassandra said as she pointed the gun at Penny. Penny shut her eyes tightly, and two shots were fired in rapid succession.

Penny's eyes snapped open and she saw the agent near Cassandra fall and heard Cassandra's scream as two shots entered her back. She shrunk to the ground, writhing in agony.

Before she had a chance to stare, Cricket approached both of them and untied them. As Gadget dropped to the ground, he seemed to come out of shock and cried, "Call an ambulance!"

Penny quickly took her computer book out of her bag and entered in a few commands. The missile a hundred yards away blew up underground.

Then, Penny rushed over to Cassie as a helicopter roared over head.

Meanwhile, Dr. Claw sat in his M.A.D.mobile and saw the whole thing. "No! NOOOO!" he screamed. "I'll GET YOU NEXT TIME, GADGET!" he shouted as he changed his M.A.D.mobile into his M.A.D.jet and blasted off.

Inspector Gadget saw the jet as it roared overhead and shouted, "It's not over yet, Claw!"

Penny, meanwhile, was comforting Cassie, who was crying in pain. "I am so sorry! I should die...I should die!" Cassie kept repeating.

"No, no, it was all Claw...it wasn't your fault, it was Dr. Claw's fault," she kept repeating, soothing Cassie little.

An ambulance arrived, called by Penny on her watch. The paramedics quickly took Cassie into the ambulance and rushed her to the hospital.

The helicopter landed and Chief Quimby disembarked. "Congratulations, Gadget! You've done it again!" Quimby said.

"Chief, I can't take all the credit. Penny was a huge help in destroying the electrical control center," Gadget said.

"Really?" the Chief said. "Taking after your Uncle?"

"I can't take all the credit, Chief. I had a lot of help," Penny said and turned to Cricket, who was by now standing next to her. She introduced Cricket to Uncle Gadget and the Chief.

"I can't tell you how much we owe you," Inspector Gadget said.

"Thank you," Cricket replied, blushing.

"Where will she stay?" Quimby asked.

"Why, with us, of course," Gadget replied as Penny and Cricket smiled at each other.

"You like so nice in a hospital gown," Penny said jokingly to Cassie.

"Yeah, thanks for the support," Cassie responded sarcastically. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Cricket. She saved Uncle and my lives," Penny said. "No need to worry her any more," Penny thought.

"Hi! Where'd you come from?" Cassie asked.

"She came from Claw, some sort of secret project," Inspector Gadget said.

"Where will she stay?" Cassie asked.

"With us-someone's gonna share a room!" Gadget said.

"You know, it's a miracle I'm alive!" Cassie said.

"The bullets were perfectly placed for maximum incapacitation and minimum damage. No major organs, muscles or bones were hit, but you did lose a lot of blood," Penny said.

"How did I get shot again?" Cassie asked.

"You don't remember?" Penny asked incredulous.

"No," said Cassie.

"Well, it was a M.A.D. agent who was trying to kill me," Gadget responded quickly while Cricket scowled.

"Just think, it'll only be five days till we can all go home!" Penny said.

"I can't wait to see my new home!" Cricket said.

"Believe me, you'll like it," Gadget said.

"Red where is troll?" the blue troll stated again for what must have been the one-hundredth time. It had been three days since his brother had left. Something must have gone wrong. He looked at Cammie. She was still out, and had a smile on her face. She looked so peaceful. He went into the other room. He went over to Ralston, and looked at him. If only he could tell what Ralston was thinking. As he was daydreaming, Ralston's eyes started to flutter and his head started to move. The blue troll pinched one of the nerves to his brain and he fell back into unconsciousness.

"I wonder where they are?" said Gadget. "I called so many times I thought my finger was going to fall off! We had to take the bus home from the airport!"

"I don't know-out having a good time I guess," Cassie said.

"So, Cammie looks exactly like you two," Cricket motioned at Cassie and Penny, "and your father is Gadget's brother?"

"You got it right," Penny said as the bus let them off in front of their house. The driver got their luggage out of the storage compartment and carried it to their door and then re-boarded the bus and left. The four opened their door and went in.

"Wow, this house looks amazing," Cricket said.

"Yes, but it doesn't seem to have been lived in for a week or so! There's that moldy smell in the air," Gadget said. "Hmm...oh well, Cassie, I'll bring your luggage to your room, and then I'll take care of Penny's...Cricket, we'll go shopping and get you a better wardrobe." Cricket was wearing the same outfit she had on when Penny first met her. There had been no time to shop in England.

Gadget used his Gadget hand to carry Cassie's luggage to her room in the basement, which was right next to Cammie's. Gadget went down the stairs and nearly tripped over the still unconscious body of the troll. He let out an audible gasp.

"Wake up! Wake up!" Gadget said as he slapped the troll's face after he brought it upstairs on the couch. Penny, Cassie and Cricket are watching intently.

"Huh? Where am I? Where's my brother?" the red troll said groggily.

"You're here, and that's all you need to know, now why are you here? What's happened to my brother? What's happened to my niece?" Gadget asked.

"You! It's YOU! You have the watch!" the red troll said as he spotted Penny with her watch. He struggled and tried to break free from Gadget's grasp to get the watch. It didn't work.

"Where are they?" he repeated.

Realizing he was very outnumbered, and his situation was hopeless, the troll talked: "We wanted Penny's watch to make ourselves normal-we're the result of a M.A.D. experiment. But we kidnapped her twin instead. Then, her father came and followed us to our hideout. We're holding them both for ransom," the red troll said.

"Not anymore you're not," Gadget said. "Cassie-get some rope!"

Cassie ran to Penny's room and picked up some rope. She came down and tied up the red troll and extorted directions to the hideout. Penny and Gadget then quickly left, on their way to the hideout of the trolls.

"Here it is," Gadget said once they arrived at the Hills of Metro City. Both stared at the hills of rock. There were no doors to be seen. "Where's the entrance?"

"Let me check," Penny said and used her watch to key in on the weaknesses in the rock. She located the entrance to the underground passage and she and Gadget followed it until the wall of stone blocked their advance.

The blue troll was about to take a nap, when he heard rustling outside the hideout. He assumed it was finally his brother, but he could not be too sure. It could be the police. He grabbed his bow and his set of arrows and waited near the entrance.

Cammie, meanwhile, was deep in la-la land. Beautiful colors pinwheeled around her head, mixing and blending and separating in deep contrast. Sometimes, weird music would mix in-music from her past, music she'd never heard before. Memories flashed before her-her first conscious meeting with Mr. Johnson, her "vacations" to local motels with Mr. Johnson, her unusually long stay in the hospital after the car crash she was in, her first meeting with Penny and Cassie. She had other memories, but kept returning to that hospital stay. Finally, she saw something that made her entire dream fade to black.

Penny and Gadget stared at the wall. "Can you use your watch to get through this?" Gadget asked.

"I'll try," Penny said. She keyed into her watch, and found that to the left there was a passage that she could blow up with her laser. She did just that, and where there was once a door was a gaping hole as dust filled the air. Gadget and Penny rushed in. 

The blue troll was not caught unaware. One look at Penny and her watch told him that she was the girl he wanted and shot an arrow.

Penny was running when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her side and cried out. She fell to the floor and tried to slowly get the arrow out. Gadget stopped and stooped down near Penny. He saw the troll and shouted, "Go-Go Gadget Laser!" and a beam of light came from his finger and immediately incinerated the troll.

"Don't stay with me...I'll be fine-get Cammie and Dad!" Penny said,

Gadget stood up and rushed to the table where Cammie was incapacitated.

Cammie tried to see what she had been witnessing but it was no use. Whatever she had found she was not meant to know. Then, the colorful pinwheels came back, and she tripped back into the euphoria for a last few seconds before her world was ripped out from under her.

Gadget saw the plastic cover over Cammie's head and immediately removed it and waved his hand through the air, dissipating the gas. Cammie sat up suddenly.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You're in the trolls' lair. They kidnapped you thinking you were Penny." Gadget said.

"Who are the trolls?" Cammie asked.

"I'll explain later," Gadget says as he looks through the open door to see Ralston lying on the table. Gadget rushed through the door and tripped over a bucket of water. He took what was left in the bucket and splashed it on Ralston, who awoke and spit a good amount of water out of his mouth.

At that moment Penny walked in, clutching her side, with the Chief right behind her. "Cricket told me where you were. I'm glad to see the situation is under control," he said,

"Penny, are you all right?" Gadget and Ralston asked together.

"I'm all right-it's just a flesh wound," said Penny smiling.

Later that night, Penny, Cammie, Cassie, Cricket, Mr. Ralston and Inspector Gadget all sat down on the porch with coats on looking at the brilliant winter sky. Everyone was doing their own private reflecting of what had gone on the past week, and it was very therapeutic.

"Okay, you guys, I have a surprise!" Gadget said, breaking the silence.

"Oh, uncle, what?" Penny said.

"Yeah, what?" Cammie said, eager to do anything to forget her experience.

"VACATION!" Gadget said as everyone started to smile. "We're going to the Virgin Islands! I haven't made reservations yet, but I was thinking later next week?"

"That's fine," Ralston said, and everyone else concurred.

"Great. This will be a perfect vacation!" Gadget said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Claw was keeping tabs on the scene. "You want a perfect vacation? We'll see about that! I have more than one surprise up my sleeve!" he said in that menacing voice, and them began a truly evil laugh.


End file.
